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44—VANGUARD, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2017<br />
Mugabe under house arrest as Buhari warns against<br />
crisis<br />
By Johnbosco Agbakwuru<br />
with agency report<br />
ZIMBABWE’S military<br />
has placed President<br />
Robert Mugabe under<br />
house arrest in the capital<br />
Harare, South African<br />
President Jacob Zuma<br />
says.<br />
Mr Mugabe told Mr<br />
Zuma in a phone call that<br />
he was fine, the South African<br />
leader’s office said.<br />
Troops are patrolling the<br />
capital, Harare, after they<br />
seized state TV and said<br />
they were targeting “criminals”.<br />
The move may be a bid<br />
to replace Mr Mugabe<br />
with his sacked deputy,<br />
Emmerson Mnangagwa,<br />
BBC correspondents say.<br />
Mr Mnangagwa’s dismissal<br />
last week left Mr<br />
Mugabe’s wife Grace as<br />
the president’s likely successor.<br />
Mr Mugabe, 93, has<br />
dominated the country’s<br />
political scene since it<br />
gained independence from<br />
the UK in 1980.<br />
Maj Gen Moyo also said<br />
Mr Mugabe and his family<br />
were “safe and sound<br />
and their security is guaranteed”.<br />
It is not clear who<br />
is leading the military action.<br />
Since then military vehicles<br />
have been out on the<br />
streets of Harare, while<br />
gunfire has been heard<br />
from northern suburbs<br />
where Mr Mugabe and a<br />
number of government officials<br />
live.<br />
In a statement, Mr<br />
Zuma’s office said: “President<br />
Zuma spoke to President<br />
Robert Mugabe earlier<br />
today who indicated that<br />
he was confined to his<br />
home but said that he was<br />
fine.”<br />
At heart is a power struggle<br />
over who succeeds Mr<br />
Mugabe. The rivalry between<br />
his wife Grace and Mr<br />
Mnangagwa has split the<br />
governing Zanu-PF.<br />
Following a call from Mrs<br />
Mugabe, Mr Mnangagwa<br />
was removed from the vicepresidency<br />
earlier this<br />
month.<br />
Meanwhile, President<br />
Muhammadu Buhari in a<br />
statement by his Special Adviser<br />
on Media and Publicity,<br />
Mr. Femi Adesina , called<br />
for calm and respect for the<br />
constitution of Zimbabwe.<br />
He urged all political and<br />
military stakeholders in Zimbabwe<br />
to avoid any action that<br />
may plunge the country into<br />
unnecessary conflict and impact<br />
negatively on the region.<br />
Buhari said: “Every attempt<br />
must be made to resolve<br />
all contentious issues by<br />
constitutional means in Zimbabwe<br />
to save the country<br />
from avoidable political instability.”<br />
Military vehicles and soldiers patrol the streets in Harare. REUTERS<br />
Russia moves ahead with rules<br />
targeting foreign media<br />
RUSSIA is moving<br />
ahead with legislation<br />
that threatens U.S. media outlets<br />
operating in the country.<br />
The lower house of Russia’s<br />
parliament approved an<br />
amendment Wednesday that<br />
clears the way for media outlets<br />
that receive funding from<br />
abroad to be designated as<br />
foreign agents.<br />
The measure must go to the<br />
upper house of parliament<br />
before being signed by President<br />
Vladimir Putin.<br />
The measure approved<br />
Wednesday does not specify<br />
which media outlets would be<br />
designated as foreign agents,<br />
or how the process would<br />
work.<br />
It’s the first tangible response<br />
to a move by the U.S.<br />
Department of Justice to re-<br />
quire the firm that produces<br />
the U.S. branch of Russian<br />
television network RT to register<br />
under the Foreign<br />
Agents Registration Act.<br />
For weeks Russian government<br />
officials, including Putin,<br />
have promised a tit for tat<br />
response targeting American<br />
outlets operating in the country.<br />
According to the draft legislation,<br />
media outlets designated<br />
as foreign agents would<br />
be subject to the same rules<br />
that currently apply to foreignfunded<br />
non-governmental<br />
organizations. Those groups<br />
are required to report on their<br />
funding, include a “foreign<br />
agent” disclaimer in content<br />
they publish and are subject<br />
to inspections by authorities.<br />
Tillerson, in Myanmar, calls for<br />
credible probe of atrocities<br />
U<br />
.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called on Wednesday<br />
for a credible investigation into reports of human<br />
rights abuses against Rohingya Muslims committed<br />
by Myanmar’s security forces after a meeting with its<br />
civilian and military leaders.<br />
More than 600,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled to<br />
Bangladesh since late August, driven out by a military<br />
counter-insurgency clearance operation in Buddhistmajority<br />
Myanmar’s Rakhine State.<br />
A top U.N. official has described the military’s actions<br />
as a textbook case of “ethnic cleansing”.<br />
“We’re deeply concerned by credible reports of widespread<br />
atrocities committed by Myanmar’s security forces<br />
and by vigilantes who were unrestrained by the security<br />
forces during the recent violence in Rakhine State,”<br />
Tillerson told a joint news conference with Aung San Suu<br />
Kyi, the head of a civilian administration that is less than<br />
two years old and shares power with the military.
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